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GP Accelerator 2.0

Grameenphone Accelerator (GPA) is a cohort-based, mentor-led and curriculum-driven open innovation platform helps early stages entrepreneur to validate their IDEA, prototype building and help them to make investable. Sheba.XYZ, CMED Health, Repto, Cramstack, AlterYouth and BankcompareBD are few startups that have successfully graduated from the Accelerator program. GP Accelerator empowers tech startups with the resources they need to build, grow, and Go Beyond. It also provides seed funding, expert mentors, top-notch curricula, in-house development resources, investor access and many more. So are you ready to be the next big startup in Bangladesh? Join with our next batch!

The Pre-Accelerator program

25 teams with a validated idea along with their unique proposition and 2 months of training for them to prepare properly for launching in the market.

Our Portfolio

FAQ

Not by us! We aren’t in the business of stealing ideas. The best way to protect yourself is by being better than anyone else. You may also want to look into trademarking and copyrighting your intellectual property with your lawyer. If you’re accepted, we’ll try our best to make that happen. One of the reasons we take 8% ownership in your company is so that we’ll be partners, and we want you and your company to excel.

If you’re in tech, have got a great early-stage startup, a great team and you think you can benefit greatly from what the GP Accelerator has to offer (Seed Funding, Office Space, Mentorship, Access to Investors, and more…), then sure, you should definitely apply!

Ideally, the GP Accelerator accepts tech startups that already have something to show/ demonstrate. This is ideal because then you are in a position to best take advantage of the resources the program provides. Ideas are hard to accelerate. But if you have a minimum viable product, a prototype, or some low traction and users, or even any of that in development, it’s better suited to take advantage and accelerate growth. Of course, exceptions are always there for the exceptional.

There are three rounds of filtration of applications. After the application submission deadline, we’ll sort through all the applications based on how well we think your startup will be able to benefit from accelerator resources, your team’s ability to execute, and the strength of the business. Next, we’ll invite teams to pitch in front us, we’ll have in-person interviews and see if you can sell us on your story. Final Round will be when we select the final five, and here, we’ll also have in-person pitches and see who has the most potential us the most based on a holistic evaluation.

There is a minimum team size of two co-founders. The maximum number of people from your team that can work from GP House is four. At least one co- founder needs to be working full-time for your company to be eligible for the GP Accelerator program

After joining, we’ll go through an orientation and get to know you, and have you get to know us. You’ll match yourselves with relevant mentors. And for the next few months we’ll go through intensive modules in Customer Identification and Development, Product Development, Sales & Marketing, Customer Validation, Operations & Execution, Legal & Finance, and more. Depending on your strengths and weaknesses, we’ll focus and curate the intensity of the curriculum.

You can work at GP House from 8am to 8pm every day, except Friday. You can work anywhere else outside GP House for however long you want! But the GP Accelerator team officially runs from 9am - 5pm. They may well work longer, but they’re not obligated to.

You are expected to participate fully and be fully engaged in the GP Accelerator program. That means being primarily based out of GP House for the duration of the program. You’ll benefit greatly from interacting with the team, the other startups, visiting mentors and the Grameenphone infrastructure. That being said, it’s your company and your responsibility, so manage your time accordingly. To be fair to the other teams, we can’t hold up the program if you aren’t fully participating.

If you are selected to enter the GP Accelerator, you will be given an access card to allow you entry. It’s valid for your 4-month batch during working hours. You cannot bring in guests, but can request business-related guests to be brought in for meetings. You can book meetings with the help of the GP Accelerator admin team.

There are no separate allowances for transport, conveyance, hardware, etc. Lunch at the Grameenphone cafeteria is included with the program and will be provided for the duration of the program for your participating team members (up to four members).

By entering the GP Accelerator, 8% ownership in your company is reserved for Grameenphone and SD Asia for being a part of the program. It’s your company. You run it, operate it, reap the rewards and the losses. You make deals with whomever you like. You are not exclusive to Grameenphone. The intention isn’t to eat up your company, but to help build it. If Grameenphone and SD Asia’s brand value can help with that, well, great.

Unless you’re involved in criminal activity or actively uncooperative and disrespectful to the people around you and your environment, you should be fine. The GP Accelerator reserves the right to ask you politely to step out if there is a breach of codes of conduct or values. You also cannot be a part of any other accelerator programs at the same time, just due to conflict of interest.

Teams accepted into the GP Accelerator get twelve (12) lakh taka in seed funding, given in two (2) installments. On acceptance into the program (and submission of the required documents), you get half deposited into your registered Bangladeshi company bank account. After graduating through Demo Day by successfully pitching your company, you get the rest. You can spend the money on your company as you see fit, but we hope to guide you through this process on how to best spend for your company. The purpose of the money is to help build your company.

Demo Day is an invite-only event at the end of your 4-months at the GP Accelerator that is geared toward deal-making. You’ll pitch your startup to a room full of potential investors, customers, partners and others that can potentially increase your business. This is your opportunity to hustle. Nothing guaranteed. Like we said, it’s your company, and you can make a deal with whomever you like, and it’s on you to close the deals. We won’t close them for you.

Yes, we would encourage it, we want your company to succeed. There are no restrictions put on you to who you can deal with. Remember, it’s your company. Even if they take equity, neither Grameenphone nor SD Asia, dictates the direction of your company, or who you think can help take it to the next level. Grameenphone and SD Asia can participate like any other investor, meaning your company can choose to take further investment from them or not.

Some investors may be mentors, and some investors will stop in, have a chat, or lead sessions during the 4-month program. So, yeah, you’ll meet investors before Demo Day. This helps you build relationships and allows you to get to know one another before Demo Day.